


Not As It Seems Part XVIII

by eliniel



Series: Not As It Seems Series [18]
Category: Final Fantasy XIV
Genre: F/M, Heavensturn, Humor, Polar Bear Swim, Sexual Content
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-22
Updated: 2019-12-22
Packaged: 2021-02-26 02:35:28
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,627
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21906088
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/eliniel/pseuds/eliniel
Summary: For Heavensturn, instead of celebrating the Eorzean custom, Emet-Selch implores the Warrior of Light to try a Garlean tradition instead.
Relationships: Solus zos Galvus | Emet-Selch/Warrior of Light
Series: Not As It Seems Series [18]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2175447
Comments: 6
Kudos: 73





	Not As It Seems Part XVIII

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Ahro](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ahro/gifts).



> *cough* Sexual content ahead!
> 
> This was written as a Christmas present for my dear friend Ahro. She requested smut, and she got it (and I hope she enjoys it). Love you <3  
> (Thanks to Crystal for making sure it makes sense)

“Hmm,” I hummed as I stared out the window at the falling snow, cheek flattened against the palm of my hand as I leaned on the dining table.

“What is it you’re daydreaming about, hero?” Emet-Selch’s voice asked, his quiet words in my ear causing a chill to travel up my spine. With a small yelp of surprise, I jumped at his unexpected arrival, my chair nearly tipping over with the movement. His arm shot out and righted it, a smug smile on his lips. I exhaled an unsteady breath and placed my hand over my pounding heart. 

“I wish you wouldn’t do that,” I shot at him, annoyance in my tone. With a shake of my head, I looked back outside again. I watched out of the corner of my eye as he raised a brow at my reaction. 

“Don’t tell me I have to lift your spirits again,” he complained, exasperation in his tone. “To be honest, hero, I am not sure I’m up for the challenge a second time.” I waved my hand in dismissal. 

“No, no,” I answered with a sigh. “I was just wondering if I shouldn’t take a trip for Heavensturn this year instead of spending it at home.” The Ascian leaned his backside against the table, crossing his arms over his chest and glancing out the same window. 

“And where did you have in mind?” 

I hummed in thought.

“I’m not sure,” I answered. “Somewhere I haven’t been before but…” I shrugged my shoulders. “Those places are few and far between now.”

He considered me thoughtfully for a few moments, a frown on his mouth as he looked me up and down. I furrowed my brow at the look on his face. I  _ knew _ that look. 

“I have a proposition for you, hero,” he said, finally. Now, it was my turn to raise a brow. 

“Oh? A trip to another shard again?” 

“No,” he replied. “This time, right here on the Source.”

I tilted my head and sat back in my chair, crossing my legs, motioning with one hand to the empty space in front of me. 

“You have the floor, then, Ascian.”

“For the new year,” he began, pushing off the table, slowly turning to face me again. “In exchange for  _ forcing _ me to learn your Eorzean customs, how about you come with me and learn a little about Garlean traditions?” I pursed my lips.

“But you’re... not really a Garlean,” I pointed out. He chuckled.

“No, but I am still the founding father of the empire. It was expected of me as Emperor to take part in the celebrations in my youth, and I did not disappoint. I know them quite intimately.” I hummed, tapping my finger to my chin. 

“In truth, I find this particular custom  _ refreshing _ and I had planned to take leave of this place for a short while that day to partake in it. But if you came with me...” As he trailed off, a feline smile spread across his lips and he looked down at me, though by the look on his face I knew he would not deign to continue. 

“What exactly  _ is _ this tradition, then? Where would we be going?”

“Ah, ah,” he said, wagging a gloved finger at me. “That, my dearest hero, is a surprise.” I crossed my arms over my chest and narrowed my eyes at him. He huffed a laugh at my expression. 

“Oh, don’t look at me like that.” He leaned down so his face was so close his lips were barely an ilm from mine. My breath caught as his shimmering gold eyes examined mine. “I promise you won’t regret it,” he whispered. “You may even have a little  _ fun. _ Isn’t that what you want?” 

He straightened again, watching me with an amused smile as I released my breath and pouted, still hesitant.

“What I  _ want _ is some peace and quiet.”

“And you shall have it,” he insisted, putting his hands on his hips. “Come now, hero. Don’t tell me that after all this time, you don’t trust me even a scant amount?” I bit my lip as he looked down at me, my thoughts racing through my mind as I tried to discern whether or not he was telling me the truth. 

Finally, I relented.

“When can we leave?”

“Immediately, if you’d like.”

“How long can we stay?”

“However long you wish, my dear.”

“Fine,” I agreed, standing from my chair. “Let me pack a bag and we can go.”

A short while later, I slung a pack over my shoulder as he took hold of my arm. He opened a Void portal and pulled me through.

When we appeared on the other side, we were standing in front of a dark, wooden cabin sitting in a clearing in the middle of the woods, its steps and porch buried under fulms of snow, neglected after what looked to be years of disuse.

“A little shabby for the likes of you, isn’t it?” I joked as I took it in.

“It seems no one has discovered my little hideaway,” Emet-Selch said as he dropped my arm, ignoring my question. “We shouldn’t be disturbed up here.”

“Up?” I asked, looking at him, confusion crossing my features. He motioned behind us with one hand as he took a step forward, the other hand snapping to clear away the snow and fix any damage to the small house. At his insistence I turned, my mouth falling open as a gasp escaped me.

Behind us sat a frozen lake, a small pier jutting out into the water, the light of the moon reflecting off the surface of the ice. Beyond that was a high cliff overlooking a city, illuminated with all different colors. My eyes widened as I marvelled the view. 

I felt his arm wind around my waist as he joined me, pulling me against his side, eyes sweeping over the horizon.

“Is that-”

“Garlemald?” he finished for me. “Yes. Quite beautiful all the way up here, wouldn’t you agree?” I opened my mouth to answer, but his arm travelled up, his hand sliding the bag off of my shoulder. He hoisted it onto his own and turned to go inside. I turned with him, ready to argue that I was perfectly capable of carrying  _ my own _ things, but the fight died on my lips when I beheld the cabin again.

The windows were alight with a roaring fire inside the sitting room, the snow completely cleared from the porch, the previously broken beams and panels and window panes mended with naught but a snap of his fingers. 

Before I could help it, I breathed a content sigh, a smile forming on my lips. 

This seemed like the  _ perfect _ place to spend Heavensturn- quiet, cozy, alone...away.

I let him lead me inside. He dropped my pack on a plush chair right inside the door and turned to watch me as I inspected our surroundings.

“Is this satisfactory enough, my dearest hero?” he asked, a hint of smugness in his voice. One side of my mouth tugged upward as I stood on my toes, wrapping my arms around his neck and pulling him down to meet me. He grinned, his arms wrapping around my back, pressing me into him.

“Only just,” I teased, and closed the distance between us.

We spent the next few days curled up on the couch in front of the fireplace. He conjured books for us to read, games to play, and ingredients to cook with. 

“So,” I started one night, as I was dicing a thick slab of bacon. “What exactly is this cabin for?” I inquired, motioning around me with the knife. He dodged the sharp, pointed end of the utensil as he approached and leaned one elbow on the counter. 

“I traveled here often as Solus,” he answered as he watched me scrape the small chunks into my hand, then drop them into the pot of boiling chicken stock on the stove. “To get away, I suppose, for some peace and quiet.”

I hummed my understanding as I reached for a bowl I’d set to the side. I plucked a blue egg from the counter and cracked its contents into the bowl, then shoved it into his hand. 

“Make yourself useful, would you?” He scoffed, but a small smile spread across his lips as he reached for a fork and whisked it around until the yolk and white had been sufficiently scrambled. I breathed a laugh of my own as I placed a skinned pumpkin on my cutting board and began to slice it.

“How did you find this place?” The Ascian set the bowl down next to the board as I cut, then moved around me to stir the ingredients in the pot. 

“You can see this mountain from the palace,” he explained, making room so I could slide the pumpkin into the liquid. I placed the lid on top and he set his spoon down. “A perk of being the ruling body of an entire nation is that you can do whatever it is you please, and so one day I just simply travelled up the mountain and found this spot. It was wooded, of course, and I had to remove many of the trees around the lake. I placed a shield around the area so that no one can see the clearing from the city.” He sighed through his nose, eyes downcast as he stared at the soup.

“I only  _ ever _ shared this little recluse with one other person besides you, hero,” he said quietly, avoiding my eyes. “So be thankful.”

“Who?” He tensed for a moment, jaw ticking as he debated whether or not he would divulge that information. A sad smile formed on my mouth at his hesitancy and when I put an assuring hand on his arm, he relaxed. “It’s fine. You don’t have to tell me.”

As I thought back to Solus’ history, it wasn’t hard to guess.

When the pumpkin was cooked through, I took the lid off of the pot and had him pour the egg into the soup. When I served it, I sprinkled dried laurel leaves overtop for garnish and set the bowls down on the table.

Over those days, I tried many times to get him to reveal  _ what _ his tradition was, but each time he would thwart my attempt and change the subject, insisting he would tell me when the time was right.

As we sat down to dinner on the eve of the turn of the year, he finally revealed what the Garlean custom of Heavensturn actually entailed.

“Let me get this straight,” I asked, incredulously, dropping my fork onto my plate with a loud  _ clang _ . “To celebrate the coming of a new year, Garleans  _ actually _ go for a swim in  _ freezing water _ ?”

“Well, yes,” he said matter-of-factly. “Strength of mind and body is  _ everything _ to your average Garlean. What better way to test both?”

I scoffed and shook my head in disbelief.

“There is absolutely no way you’re getting me to willingly jump into that lake.”

“You did agree to try, hero,” he reminded me. I clicked my tongue in annoyance and picked up my fork again. 

I couldn’t believe when, just a few hours later, I found myself standing on the small pier, now devoid of the snow, watching as Emet-Selch melted part of the ice so that we could swim around. I wrapped my arms around my body as I shivered in my boots.

“You could just warm the water, you know,” I informed him, teeth chattering. 

Gods, and I thought Eorzea was cold in the winter. 

“Then we wouldn’t be keeping with the true  _ spirit _ of the tradition,” he teased with a chuckle. “Would we?”

“Brutes, the lot of you,” I mumbled as I watched him shed his overcoat, followed by his long tunic. When he stood before me in nothing but his trousers, he turned to face me, expectantly, amusement on his face. 

I stubbornly shook my head as he grabbed the lapels of my coat and pulled me to him. He slid his hands inside and around my back, forcing me to let go of myself as he removed it from my body and dropped it onto the pier.

“Come, hero,” he cooed, his voice in my ear as he playfully nipped at the lobe. “It’s not  _ that _ bad.” 

My knees started to go weak as he dragged his teeth down my neck, his hands feeling for the hem of my shirt. 

Gods dammit,  _ why _ had I showed him my  _ that _ spot?

He lifted the garment over my head and left it on top of the coat. With a smug smile, he stepped away from me.

“Now the shoes,” he instructed. I pursed my lips but did as he asked, stepping out of my snow boots.

By the Twelve, I was  _ freezing. _

He slid his own pants off, leaving him in nothing but his shorts, and then, without warning, took a running leap into the water.

I watched in horror as he landed, the splash so large it nearly reached me. When he surfaced again, he ran a hand through his hair to slick it out of his face and looked at me with a raised brow.

I stood frozen to the spot, staring wide-eyed at him. 

No, no, no, I decided. Absolutely not-

“I-I think I’m just going to-” I started to slowly turn on my heel, pointing back to the cabin.

“Don’t make me come and get you, hero.” I paused and cringed.

A challenge and a threat.

With a frustrated groan, I acquiesced. He would absolutely drag himself out of the water just to throw me in it. 

I dropped my pants next to his. 

I mustered every ounce of nerve I had and jumped off the pier with a scream that echoed on the mountaintop. 

The water was so cold it  _ hurt _ , like knives piercing my skin. I felt my heart rate spike upon impact as my body tried to adjust to the glacial temperature, the breath I was holding releasing immediately in a pained whimper. It seeped into me, slowing my movements, my very bones aching as I tried to swim to the surface. 

I took a deep breath when I broke through to the air, teeth chattering uncontrollably. 

I cursed, immediately making for the pier again, where the Ascian was already pulling himself out. Steam began rolling off of him as he heated his body with his aether, drying and warming his skin. 

He reached out to haul me out of the water and when I was unsteadily on my feet, he snapped, a bathrobe appearing in one hand. I snatched it from him and threw it over my shoulders before stepping into my boots and stomping back to the cabin.

The smirk on his lips as I pushed past him did not escape me, and a few moments later, I heard the crunch of snow behind me as he followed. 

When he had closed the door behind the both of us, he dumped our discarded clothing in a pile on the chair and chuckled. 

“That wasn’t  _ so _ hard, hero,” he insisted. “At the very least, you tried it.”

“And I am  _ never _ trying it again,” I said with finality, voice shakey as I went to move to the fireplace, whole body trembling from the immense cold.

“Ah, but you didn’t let me tell you about the  _ best _ and  _ most important _ part,” he quipped, taking hold of my wrist to stop me. He whirled me around to face him. I gasped at the suddenness, and looked up at him with wide eyes as my body continued to shiver. 

That _ look _ in his eyes…

A small fire quickly lit in my abdomen and I inhaled sharply at the sheer intensity of his gaze. 

In my stubbornness and irritation at him, I tried twisting my arm out of his hand, but he held firm. He slowly started moving closer to me, effectively backing me up against the nearest wall. He released my wrist and placed his hands against the wood on either side of my head so that I could not escape, then leaned down, his lips next to my ear, his nose gently brushing the shell. 

“How to warm up afterwards,” he growled, quietly. A whimper escaped unbidden from my mouth as the vibration of his words travelled through me, causing another chill to run up my spine, but this time, not from the cold. The grin that spread across his lips as he witnessed my reaction to his closeness was bordering on feral as he inserted one leg between mine to spread them, pressing his hips to mine as he pinned me to the wall.

And the moment his body touched mine... 

_ Oh Gods _ , he was  _ so _ warm. 

I let out a quiet moan as the heat of his skin enveloped me. I felt my obstinance towards him waning and I found myself rapidly falling into his warmth. Without thinking, I hooked my arms under his, pulling him closer to me.

His lips found mine easily, hungry and insistent. I slid my arms from his shoulders and gripped the sides of his face, deepening the kiss, his approval humming against my mouth. 

He reached behind me to unclasp the top of my smallclothes and I arched my back to give him easier access. As he tossed it to the side, his thigh moved between my legs, rubbing against me through the thin fabric of my pantalettes, eliciting another whimper from my lips and I ground against him in response. 

He broke away from me for a moment, my bottom lip sliding out from between his teeth, then gripped my middle and spun me around. He put a hand between my shoulderblades, pushing slightly so I was bent at the waist, pressed to the wall while his other hand took hold of my hips so my backside stayed flush against him. He pushed my hair over my shoulder and leaned over me, trailing featherlight kisses down the back of my neck and top of my spine.

One of his hands lightly traveled up my sides and stomach before it came to rest on my breast, kneading the flesh until the nipple hardened in his hand. His thumb brushed against its peak and I bit my lip to stifle the sound that came out of me. 

“Don’t you dare,” he admonished me as his other hand slipped into the bottoms of my smallclothes and between my legs. I released my lip with a breathy moan as his fingers came into contact with my folds. I pressed my backside into his hips in response, his growing arousal evident even through his shorts, earning me a low groan. “I want to hear  _ every _ single sound you make, my dearest hero.”

He began moving the hand between my legs in a circular motion as the other gently twisted my nipple between his fingers, pulling quiet whimpers from me, my breaths coming out in short puffs against the wall. Before long, his hand traveled further down to my entrance and he clicked his tongue in my ear. 

“My, my,” he cooed, swirling his fingers in the wetness he found there. “Whatever shall we do with you, warrior?”

Instead of waiting for an answer, he extracted both of his hands from my body and began inching my smallclothes down my legs, then removed his. 

He reached forward, twining his fingers in my hair before his hand fisted in it, pulling not gently, but not unkindly, just enough so my neck craned back at his insistence. 

He gradually, slowly, slid inside of me, and my nails scratched against the wood as I clenched my hand, a small gasp escaping my mouth. 

After naught but two strokes, he pulled himself out again, slipping his arousal between my legs as his other hand lifted one of mine from the wall. He inserted his fingers into the curl of mine to force them to relax, then guided my hand between my legs, prompting them to part my folds as he rubbed my own wetness between them, his tip repetitively brushing against the small bundle of nerves at my apex as his other hand gripped my hip to hold me still. A jolt of pleasure ran through me, my knees nearly buckling under me as my abdomen jerked at the contact. 

I hissed as he teased me, a strangled whine making its way up my throat and I heard him chuckle at my reaction. 

As the heat grew between my legs and the need to feel him inside me with it, he released his hold on my hair, his fingers travelling lightly down my back, making bumps rise along my skin. 

When he felt he’d toyed with me long enough, the heat between my legs near unbearable, he easily slid himself into me again, as far into me as he could go, a cry escaping me at the quickness of his movement.

He hummed at the feel of me around him, his chest vibrating against my back, another exhilarating chill running through me as he held himself still, fully seated inside of me.

For a few long moments, the only sound in the room was the crackling of the wood in the fireplace.

He started slowly at first, gently rocking his hips against mine. I let out a breathy whimper at his calculated movements, the relief and pleasure I felt increasing with every drawn-out thrust. I pressed my forehead against the wall as he continued pulling those quiet noises that he seemed to enjoy so much from my lips.

He leaned over me further, one arm wrapping around my ribcage as his pace began to pick up. He hauled me up to meet him so my back was flush against his chest as he moved, his heart pounding against me as his breaths began to become labored. 

Bumps rose along my arms again as I felt his lips on the back of my neck, teeth nipping and teasing the skin in the crook. 

I reached one arm back, fingers threading into his hair as he trailed reverent kisses back up, nuzzling my ear with his nose. His arm loosened from around my middle, sliding his fingers up my front to find my breast once more.

At the same time, his other hand trailed down from my hip to the apex between my thighs, slipping in and through my folds to find the bundle of nerves inside. 

A jolt of sensation jerked through me as he brushed his fingers against it, causing a groan to rise up my throat and I shuddered, my free hand finding his as it kneaded my breast, fingernails digging into his skin.

“Hmm,” he hummed again. “Did you like that?” 

I nodded slightly, but he clicked his tongue at me.

“I want to hear you say it, hero,” he breathed in my ear. 

“Ye-” As I opened my mouth to respond as he wished, his finger made contact with my sensitive nerves again, cutting off my answer as another moan came out of my mouth, louder this time.

“Much better,” the Ascian purred against me. His pace picked up further as his hand began moving in circles through my warmth. 

My body began trembling under him as he drew me closer to my end, but when my breaths were coming out in heavy pants, threatening to push me over the edge, the cry forming in the back of my throat, he came to a pause.

“This won’t do at all,” he announced between his own pants.

“Dont-,” I whined before I could stop myself and he chuckled quietly as his hands moved to grip my waist once more. 

“Not to worry hero,” he assured me as he extracted himself from me and quickly spun me to face him once more. He leaned down to my level, a smug grin on his face. “I’d just prefer to  _ watch _ you come undone.”

His hands went behind my thighs and he lifted me, pressing my back into the wall. In a swift movement, he fully seated himself inside of me again, causing me to inhale sharply. He guided my legs to wrap around his hips, then he took my hands in his and held them up, against the wood as his lips met mine. 

This time, he held nothing back as he roughly thrust into me over and over.

He broke away from my mouth, trailing fevered kisses up my jaw, then released my hands and wound one arm around my back, his other going to the wall to hold himself steady. My arms wrapped around his neck, one hand threading through his hair, his name spilling from my lips as I nearly sobbed from the sensation he was driving through me, quickly pushing me right back to the threshold, a layer sweat breaking out on my skin.

I felt his body tense, the intensity of my pleasure affecting him as well.

“That’s right, warrior. Let it out,” he breathed between pants, his lips dragging down the length of my throat as I arched my back and neck, against the wall, moan after moan spilling from my lips with each thrust. His arm tightened around me, crushing me to him as he placed a lingering kiss over the hollow of my throat, relishing in the feel of my heart beating rapidly against his mouth. 

“Louder,” he ordered, words hot against my skin. I tightened my legs around him in response. My hand fisted in his hair, the fingers of my other hand digging into his skin as he slammed his hips into mine harder, deeper. 

My moans swiftly turned to cries as he drove into me, continuously hitting  _ just _ the right spot, quickly bringing me to my end. 

“Come on, hero,” he coaxed, a moan of his own escaping his mouth immediately after. “Scream for me.”

His words broke something open inside of me and my climax broke through to the surface, quickly rushing through me. I threw my head back against the wall, a strangled cry clawed itself out of me. 

I felt him throb inside of me as I rode out the waves of my own pleasure, and with a groan he released himself. 

When he had finished, he continued holding me against him, still suspended on the wall, and pressed his lips to mine in a slow, reverent kiss, one hand coming to cradle the side of my face. 

When he had caught his breath, he released me, setting me back down onto the floor. The trembling in my body hadn’t subsided though, and my knees nearly gave out from under me. My hand shot out to the wall so I could steady myself.

With a chuckle, he quickly leaned down and swept me off the floor, then as if he was reading my mind, started heading for the bathing room. I relaxed into him with a content sigh as he snapped, hot water beginning to fill the bathtub. 

I caught a smug grin on his face as he set me down on the edge of the tub.

“Was it worth it?”

I lifted a finger to my lips in mock thought as I hummed. I heaved a dramatic sigh and shrugged my shoulders.

“Oh, I suppose so.”

He quirked a brow at me and he shook his head in exasperation.

“Happy Heavensturn, hero.” I smiled brightly as he leaned down to me once more. 

“Happy New Year, Ascian,” I responded, taking his face in my hands and closing the distance between us. 


End file.
